All of Which Makes Me Anxious, At Times Unbearably So
by Barely Meeting Expectations
Summary: In which 2D finally hits Murdoc back, and unexpected events ensue. No official pairings, but some fluff/angst. Post Plastic Beach with some flashbacks. *Story changes based on your vote! Read inside for rating/details*


**Title:** All of Which Makes Me Anxious, at Times Unbearably So

**Summary:** In which 2D finally hits Murdoc back, and unexpected events ensue. No pairings, but some fluff and angst. Post Plastic Beach with some flashbacks. *Story changes based on your vote! Read bottom author's note for details!*

**Rating:** T for now, but might be moved to M later on. You will be notified the chapter before, so follow this story if it does change.  
T for bad language/sexual references, ideologically sensitive material, violence, alcohol/pills and blood. _Contains abuse._

**Genre:** (In order of most to least) Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Suspense, Angst. General.

**Characters:** (In order of main/relevance) 2D, Murdoc, Russel, Noodle, some OCs to keep the story moving along but no real significance.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gorillaz. "Double Bass" is the song of the Gorillaz lyrics used as the title. Written purely for non-profit amusement. Don't sue me.

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What drove 2D to actually do it was beyond him.

It wasn't a matter of whether or not he "had it in him", because he very well did, and both of them knew this for quite some time now. After years of putting up with that abusive man, he most certainly had more than enough in him to land a good punch, maybe even hold out a decent fight for a little while - but this wasn't the point. It was a matter of whether or not he would get out of the situation alive, or whether or not it was a safe move to make at the time.

To be clearer, there were several things that needed to be taken into consideration before getting into a fight with Murdoc Niccals. One does not simply attempt to fight a man such as Murdoc Niccals unless they had a death wish, and 2D had learned this the hard way. Some of the more important on Stuart's list were as follows: were Russ or Noodle around to hear him scream? Were there sharp objects in the room? Did Murdoc have throwing objects easily accessible? Were there hiding spots? A quick escape route? A distraction? The list goes on and on.

In fact, this little mental list had proven is usefulness just not fifteen minutes ago, when 2D had committed with the bravest and probably stupidest action of his life. And he did some pretty stupid things in his time. This didn't even compare.

Hell, what drove him to even _consider_ the idea... Well, that was even more surprising. But inevitable nonetheless.

The events that led up to the incident didn't even match up to the actual outcome; how could things have gone downhill so quickly? Stu retraced his steps. Where did things go so horribly wrong? Probably right when Murdoc entered the room, but he backtracked anyway.

It started out as a fairly normal day - well, to anyone else it would have been considered pretty strange, but if you lived under these circumstances as long as 2D did, you probably would have considered it a normal day too.

Everything was in it's proper place when 2D woke up that morning. The night before he had a pretty gruesome nightmare about drowning and being swallowed up by a whale, so he was pretty tired even though he got a few extra hours of sleep. He laid there for a few minutes like he usually did, staring up at the ceiling or over through the window, haphazardly throwing together some of the days events which would all hopefully be accomplished, eventually. Noodle wanted some time to play video games, no doubt, and he had piles of laundry that should get done sometime. He figured that he should probably clean his room at some point too, but that, like countless other responsibilities involving cleaning, could wait until later. He usually began to pick up when he saw a spider or two for himself, up close and personal.

Maybe he could coax Noodle into cleaning his room like old times. She could be a clean freak at times, she would immediately tell that to him, his room wasn't a high priority. He was still really lazy. He also suggested to himself that he should try working on his prioritizing skills that day too, but again, this was at the bottom of the list. His mind drifted from Noodle to Russel.

He was probably at the new coffee shop down the block, ordering the buffet when mealtime came around since the little house on Wobble Street couldn't supply him with what he needed. He was probably sucking that poor little coffee shop dry, but hopefully all the money and extra help they were earning from him helped the little business some way. Russel was slowly returning to his normal size. He could still barely fit through the doorway, which is why he still slept on the roof for now. _Maybe I should go visit him too_, 2D thought as he sat up and rubbed his face. It's been a while since he actually visited Russel just to say hi or hang out, like they used to do back at Kong. He slammed off his alarm clock and put on some clothes that didn't smell as dirty as the pile beside him. 2D usually took showers in the morning - even while on Plastic Beach, surprisingly enough - but Murdoc had recently gotten into the unusual and very rude habit of slamming the door open and pouring a huge bucket of ice water on him while he was bathing, to which Stu could only remedy by changing his schedule and attempting to barricade the door before he turned the water on. Thus far, it was working, since the satanist had always been too out of it to do anything besides sleep when dusk rolled around.

A lot of people took Murdoc to be an _alcoholic _kind of guy; but anyone who knew him well enough would know that this simply wasn't true. Yeah, he drank a little more than usual, especially when they weren't in the process of making an album or when he believed they should be celebrating something. Aside from that, Murdoc stuck to his cigarettes and his birds, both of which acted like pain killers and time wasters. When he wasn't drunk he was doing one of those things. Or he was sleeping, or working, or beating the crap out of Stu-Pot. It didn't sound fun to be in the shoes of Murdoc Niccals, but for some reason, the bassist always believed that everyone was _jealous_ of him. Huh.

2D remembered that morning's events vividly; he stumbled down the stairs and somehow managed to trip over his own feet and tumbled the rest of the way down. Luckily he wasn't too badly injured, and luckily this was a common enough occurrence to teach 2D how to recuperate quickly and without a second thought. He usually tripped up or down the set of stairs at least once a day.

After pulling himself back up, he took to the kitchen in search of some food, noticing that Murdoc hasn't woken up yet; and if he had, he was still in his room. Both of which filled 2D with a sense of relief and anxiety. For now, he wouldn't have to put up with Murdoc's _sunny_ attitude and demeanor, but who's to say he wouldn't be out here joining him within the next few minutes? At which point 2D's morning, as well as his day, would basically be ruined.

Usually 2D wasn't that concerned. After all, this was normal. It was just another day. Murdoc would just thwack him upside the head and leave, mumbling something derogatory under his breath. This was a normal and frequent occurrence.

Now that he thought about it, maybe _normal_ is what did it. Maybe what set him off was not exactly what he did that morning. Maybe it never had to do with what Murdoc did at all, but it was all the fact that day after day he was expected to take it, since this entire hitting ordeal was considered completely _normal_.

Strange, usually Stuart was obsessed with the idea of being normal. It wasn't a bad thing to want to be. He longed for it, which made sense, seeing that he had blue hair and red/black eyes. Normal would have been nice. And Murdoc had made abuse normal.

For a long time, Murdoc's abuse was what kept him going.

Not because of the attention he was getting (he'd rather be ignored than be acknowledged as a punching bag), but merely because there wasn't a day that passed in which Murdoc wouldn't hit him or yell at him, and if he hadn't, then 2D knew something was wrong. It didn't make much sense to Stuart, but all he knew was that for the longest time in his life, he craved the normality of the situation, although he despised the marks that were left. It was an endless cycle: accidentally (or sometimes even intentionally just because he knew he could) piss Muds off, get hurt, be upset, try to make it up to him, and screw up somewhere along the way, leading him all the way back to step one. The cycle must have been gone through at least a thousand times by now, with a few hiccups along the way when 2D attempted - and failed - to stand up for himself, or when Russel or Noodle stepped in and did it for him. Now that he thought about it, he was like a puppy desperately trying to please its master. The very thought of it made him snort with distaste; he wasn't an animal. He didn't have an owner (Murdoc would disagree, saying that he owed him his soul). But Murdoc had always been this way with him from the beginning, violent and crabby. Why was he letting this get to him?

2D rubbed his temples, debating his course of action that morning. He mustn't lose himself. It was quite literally matter of life and death. He reassured himself, pouring some pulp-free orange juice into the to-go cup sitting on the kitchen counter. He had formulated a plan: the moment he heard Murdoc come out into the kitchen, he would excuse himself to use the bathroom and go out the front door to the coffee shop. Until then, he wrung his hands nervously, trying not to spill the juice all over him every time he went to take a drink out of his cup.

Seriously, why was he panicking so much? Today was just like any other day; in a moment or two, Muds would be down here mumbling something about giving him one of his cigs or getting him a beer out of the counter, to which 'D would eagerly and immediately obey, without a second thought. Probably not as eagerly today, though.

He guessed his immediate actions weren't a matter of loyalty, but one of friendship; although he did have a lot to be loyal to him about, apparently. No, he was sure that wasting away this much of his life by being the bassist's right-hand-man and lead singer of his band was enough to repay such a debt. Murdoc had revived him, for which 2D thanked and worshiped him and adhered his every need for as long as he could remember, now he wanted to live the way he wanted to. He didn't want to be afraid of getting punched upside the head for smiling and saying good morning to him. Obviously he would want to stay in the band. Noodle and Russel couldn't be abandoned and left to put up with Murdoc. And to be blatantly honest, 2D wanted nothing more than to be friends with the green-skinned man. Sure, he had run him over with a car and proceeded to abuse him while still in a coma, and continued to after he woke up, but he had to stop and consider where it got him; a home, money, a family that thought he looked "cool" and not "creepy", a dream he thought would never really come true. In his now blackened eyes, the pros outweighed the cons. However, he wasn't sure that meant he would still have to endure Murdoc's abuse. 2D knew that Murdoc was a pretty disgusting human being, but not a monster. It had happened a couple times, on and off camera, they would laugh and listen to one another and occasionally poke fun at Russel together, which in and itself was risky. Russel would usually threaten to beat up Murdoc, but when he saw that 2D was active in it as well, and that he and Murdoc would get along, he would merely laugh it off.

2D giggled at this, recalling the expression on Russel's face when he saw that the two were actually cooperating and not going for each other's throats once in a while. Russel told them himself, it was a nice change. Russel would then proceed to walk by Murdoc and pretend to pass gas.

2D laughed out loud to himself. Noodle loved that joke too, seeing Murdoc get all grossed out-

"Why ya laughin at a bloody cup, ya dullard?"

_MURDOC._

The blue-haired singer yelped and jumped backwards, resulting in him slipping off of his chair and crashing to the ground before Murdoc's feet, which were not there a moment before. Before Murdoc had so much twitched a finger, 2D yanked himself up and stammered nervously, mentally bracing himself for the impact of fists.

"Oh, I-uhm-ello, Muds! euh, I uhh-" he tentatively reached out and grabbed his orange juice before briskly turning around and walking away. "I go'a go."

"Oi faceache! C'mere!" Murdoc called after him, making him stop and turn around.

"Yeah Muhdoc?"

"Why don't ya make yourself useful and get ol' Mudsy a beer, eh faceache?" he finished, saying it more like a statement than a question, hopping up where 2D had previously been sitting. "Not like you actually got somewhere ta be, heheh."

2D shook his head. "Uhhm, Muds, I would, but I-"

"Now!" the green-skinned satanist spat impatiently and watched the singer jump out of his skin. "I'm thirsty!"

"...t-toilet..." was all 2D muttered.

Murdoc glared back at him. "What did you just call me?"

"Allooo!" Noodle's high pitched voice rang as she stepped into the room.

"Allo luv," 2D waved at her, silently thanking her for temporarily suspending the situation that was now taking a very bad turn. "How'd ya sleep last night?" He already knew the answer to this question, though, since he made it a regular habit to check up on her in the mornings before everyone woke up. Russel appreciated his thought for her, and completely understood why after all that she's been through, but did remark that it was kind of creepy. He was probably right, but that didn't stop 2D from making sure she was okay anyway.

"I had such a wonderful dream!" she sighed as she stretched and walked over to the pantries. "How about you?"

2D had had a nightmare about whales and had woken up sometime in the middle of the night stifling his cries to keep anyone from waking up.

"I slept good luv, but ah, I can't talk about my dream righ' now, cuz I gotta go."

"Okii, can we play video games later today?" she asked, grabbing something from the shelf and turning around to go to her room.

"Sure thing, Noods!" the blue haired singer called as he too turned around and headed for the front door, only to find that Murdoc was now standing in his path.

"Now that yer finally done ignoring me, ya wanker, go an' get me _beer_." The satanist spat viciously, threateningly leaning into his face and glaring holes through his darkened eyes.

Did he _really_ just say that...? 2D chewed on the inside of his lip and quietly attempted to breathe through his nose in a futile effort to calm himself down.

"What are ya just standin' around for, ya brainless moron? Go on, shoo!" Murdoc ushered into the kitchen with an annoyed expression.

_Go get it yourself, you old goth, _he thought to himself, but he lowered his head and turned back around into the kitchen. He really did not want to have a confrontation. He most certainly didn't want to anger Murdoc any more than he already unintentionally had.

Trying to contain himself for a little longer, he harshly pulled open the refrigerator door and grabbed a can of cold beer. As he made his way over to Murdoc, he was unaware that he had squeezed the malleable can hard enough so that by the time 2D gave it to Murdoc, it was completely misshapen.

"Here's your beer, _Mudsy_." 2D found it exceedingly difficult trying to say it without malice in his voice, even though he was pretty sure a hint of sarcasm worked its way through there somewhere. They stood there looking at each other for a moment, one slowly beginning to turn impatient and the other has been getting angrier and angrier with every passing insult.

Murdoc looked down at the bent can, aggressively slapped it out of 2D's hand, and forcefully pushed him back into the kitchen, causing the clumsy singer to slip and almost fall face first into the scuffed up kitchen floor. Luckily, he caught himself on the edge of the table before his face could make impact. Murdoc saw his catching himself from certain doom as an invitation to push him back down again. This time, Stuart could not catch himself and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Get me a new one, and this time, without your prissy attitude, got it?" Murdoc growled, leaning down and ruthlessly smacking 2D upside the head for emphasis.

That was it.

That was the last time.

That was where all of 2D's logical thoughts flew out the window and adrenaline finally took control of his body.

He had to admit though, he thought he couldn't have thought that he could be as quick and brave as he was that morning. It only took a split second. Stuart swiveled around, using the inertia from flinging himself back up from the floor, clenching his fist and with a shout of rage uppercutting Murdoc's jaw with a loud crack.

"_Do not hit me!_" His voice bounced off the walls. He was sure Noodle heard it.

When his fist collided with the green man's face, Murdoc let out a cry of surprise and stumbled backwards, effectively tripping into the kitchen table and sliding down to the floor; not out of pain, but out of pure shock.

2D had hit back.

He had finally hit back.

And damn, did he land a good hit.

This, of course, made Murdoc absolutely livid, his face gradually beginning to turn red and shaky with rage.

2D stood all the way back up and looked at what he'd done. Then he looked down to his bruised hand, and back down to Murdoc, who examined his jaw and slowly glared back up to the lanky singer.

"You really shouldn't have done tha', Stuart." He growled.

It didn't take much more than that to warn 2D that his life was now over.

Faster than he ever ran in his entire life, Stuart fled from the kitchen and out the front door, all the while hearing Murdoc calling for him from the kitchen.

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_A/N: Now we have a few options here, kiddies._

I know others have done this before, and I'm not intending to be a copy cat, but it seemed really cool to interact with readers that way; I originally got the idea from _CheesyFuckingPoofs666_, (read their story "Welcome to Plastic Beach", it's amazing and the inspiration for this story :D) but I'm gonna put my own twist on it. So here's how this is gonna go.

-**Review what you want to happen** **from the three options** to choose from.

-I will not tell you which one it is, you will not know until you read the next chapter.

-Sometimes I will do the exact opposite of what you guys voted, or something completely different, depending on the circumstances :) but votes will work for now.

-However, depending on what you guys vote on, there will be three endings to this story. A good ending, a bad ending, and an eh ending. Depending on what you guys choose will determine the fate of the characters and the storyline. If you guys chose 15 bad ending choices out of 20 chapters, obviously you're going to get the bad ending.

-Later on it will be hard to determine what will be good bad or eh, so just remember that. There are probably going to be quite a few chapters so don't fret. Yet. Heheh.

-Occasionally, there will be a fourth spot that says "good idea" or "surprise me". Good idea comes straight from you guys. Surprise me comes from me. Only the Good Idea is a good ending choice. Surprise me could mean anything.

**-THERE ARE PROS AND CONS FOR EVERY CHOICE YOU MAKE THAT ADD UP IN THE STORY.**

Where will the story go?

**1- **2D will run to the coffee shop down the block for Russel's assistance.

**2- **2D will run around aimlessly and sneak into the house for Noodle's assistance.

**3- **2D will not run and decide to confront an extremely angry Murdoc.

Obviously this is easy as to which one leads to the good, bad and eh ending. Choose wisely...

**ANSWERING THE QUICK QUESTION MAKES YOU COUNT AS TWO VOTES.** So if you answer the following question, your vote is doubled. Easy right?

**QQ:** What are your favorite pairings if you ship Gorillaz, if you ship them at all? What are your reasons for shipping/not shipping them tho?  
If you put a QQ next to your review response and leave your number vote yours will count as two.  
I don't really ship them since I see them more like a family type of group, you know?

I check the votes every 1/2 weeks and depending on who's leading I'll write the next chapter :)


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